An Angel Without Wings
by thelandofllamas
Summary: When Kurt Hummel gets the chance to compete in the American Horse Championships, he jumps at the chance..however he can't get there without the help of a handsome groom named Blaine...
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Hi!Well this is my first attempt at a Multi-chapter fic, I hope you enjoy :) Drop a review whether you liked it or not!x

Prologue 

Kurt Hummel was many things – a singer, a Broadway lover, the most fashion savvy boy in all of Ohio which is why most people were surprised to find that he loved horses. When one thinks of a stable, you immediately assume 'muck' and 'dust' something that you wouldn't associate Kurt with. But, ever since Kurt was little, he had always had a special connection was horses. It started when he was six years old.

"_Kurt, come on!" Burt said to his son who was taking forever to get ready as usual. "Dad, do I have to go? It's only a walk! I'm tired!" Burt sighed as he looked down at his little boy who was busy trying to tie his shoelaces himself. Burt crouched down to look his son in the eye, "Come on, it will be fun, and maybe if you're good, we can get an ice-cream later" he said encouragingly. Kurt smiled a little at this. "Fine, is Mom coming?" "Yes she is" his mother's voice rang out, clear and almost song-like as she came down the stairs. Elizabeth Hummel took her son's hand and they left the house quickly, before Kurt could change his mind again. _

_The family had been walking for a while, round the small area of woodland they had at the back of their suburban housing area. "Mommy, look!" Kurt cried as he pointed towards one of the paddocks. An obviously pregnant black mare was standing alone in the middle of the field, neighing to herself. "Is she okay?" Kurt asked, looking up at his mother, concern filling his blue eyes. Elizabeth looked out towards the mare – her cries were getting worse every time and she sounded as if in pain. "Burt, she doesn't sound too good, see if you can get help and Kurt and I will go see her?" she said. Burt nodded, thinking to himself how lucky he was to have married such a caring woman, as he walked in the direction of home to phone a vet. _

_Elizabeth lifted Kurt over the fence of the paddock and the pair walked towards the horse. When closer to her, Elizabeth could see she was a prize horse, her black coat was shiny, her brown eyes were clear and her mane was smooth. When Elizabeth was young, she herself had ridden but she stopped when she left for college, she never admitted it but she missed horses and what lovely creatures they were. Kurt held out his palm to the horse and spoke in a quiet but kind voice "Are you okay horsey? I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise" The horse watched him with cautious eyes at first but slowly, she lowered her head and pressed her muzzle into Kurt's hand. The boy giggled at the soft touch of the horse's nose but that giggle turned to cry of shock when the horse let out another whinny of pain. Elizabeth regarded the horse and hoped Burt and the vet would get back soon, the mare was in a bad way and from what she knew about horses, the foal looked as if it was attempting to come out backwards. Kurt continued to mutter soothing words to the horse, and he silently willed for the horse to be okay. _

_The horse whinnied once more and collapsed to the ground, just as Burt and another man came running up from the bottom of the field. "I'm here!" the vet called out, slightly out of breath. "I'm Doctor Berry, is this your horse?" he asked Elizabeth. "No" she replied "We were walking when my son spotted she was in pain, so we stopped to help her" "Good job, you noticed her when you did son" he said kindly, smiling at Kurt. "The baby is breach but hopefully" he crouched down to the horse and gently started to rub a circle on the mare's stomach, "I can get it to turn". He continued to move his hands over the mare, gently turning the unborn foal, the right way round. _

_Suddenly, the mare let out, what can only be described as, a sigh of relief. "Yes" Doctor Berry cried "The baby is back in the right place! Now we just have to wait for the birth to happen, but it doesn't seem like it will be too long" Kurt noticed the sudden determination and a hint of pain suddenly appear in the mare's eyes. He took off his jacket and laid it on the floor next to the horse. He sat on it and he gently patted the mare's neck and whispered comforting words and noises of encouragement to help her through. After about half an hour that seemed like an age, Kurt brought his lips to the mare's ears and spoke softly "Come on, girl". The mare suddenly relaxed and stood up quickly as Doctor Berry was shouting "She did it! And what a fabulous foal he is! Just look at him!" The mare turned to her baby, and began to clean him; the foal looked dazed but healthy. Elizabeth hugged Burt and they were both smiling. Kurt looked at the little foal, with a huge grin on his face. The Hummel's and Doctor Berry sat for a while watching mother and son bond. _

_After 15 minutes, the foal began to stand up, his weak thin legs not quite holding him up yet, his mother nudged him, and after a few attempts, he managed his first few struggled steps. The foal looked around at the people staring at him and he started to walk towards them, stumbling every now and again. When the foal reached the group of people, he came very close to Kurt and started to nudge his arm playfully. Kurt laughed at the foal and reached up to pat him. Elizabeth whispered to Burt "I think our boy has a new best friend"._

_A woman suddenly started running from the opposite side of the field. "Oh my god, thank you!" she was shouting at them. "Tessa, I'm so sorry" she rushed up towards the horse who immediately began to nuzzle the woman's arm. "I can't believe I missed the birth of your first baby!" The woman turned to Elizabeth and shook her hand. "Thank you so much! I was out and I got a call from my neighbour saying Tessa looked in trouble but they were a group of people looking after her! I came quick as I could! Thank you once again, how can I ever repay you?" Elizabeth smiled at the woman. "Don't thank me, thank my son Kurt here, he noticed that your horse was struggling" The woman bent down and kissed Kurt on the cheek. "Thank you Kurt, my dear, I'm Sharon" She noticed the foal still hanging around near Kurt. "Tell you what, as a thank you, why don't you name him?" "Me?" Kurt said happily. He looked at the foal. The foal was the spitting image of his mother, black, with little white strips of hair near his hooves. "Socks!" Kurt cried. "Those little white bits near his feet look like Socks!" The foal started to jump around excitedly at the commotion coming from Kurt. "Well, Socks it is" Sharon said, "He seems to like it!"_

Every day since then, Kurt went back to see Socks. Sometimes, he brought apples for the foal to eat, sometimes; Kurt just watched the horse as he galloped happily round the field. But there came a day, where Socks wasn't there - Sharon had told Kurt he had to move on and go to a new home as he was too big to live with his mom. Kurt vowed to one day find his horse and companion again but until then, he made do at the local riding stables. He helped there every weekend and he learned to ride. He always found a safe haven in horses and it became a dream of his to one day win, the National Championships. As much as he loved Broadway and Glee, horses became another obsession of his. This is the story of just how one Kurt Hummel made that dream come true.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

The chestnut stallion kept nudging the pocket of Kurt s old hoody, attempting to get at the pony nuts that he knew were in there he just couldn t quite reach them. Max, the more you attempt to eat my clothing, the more you are not getting them Kurt chuckled softly at the horse as he pulled the saddle off his back. The stallion clearly not taking need to Kurt s warning, carried on nudging Kurt s pocket, until Kurt relented. Fine, Fine, take them you greedy thing Kurt said pulling a couple of the treats out of his hoody and shoving them towards the horse s muzzle, laughing as he did so. The horse took them eagerly and shoved his head over his stable door as Kurt gathered the horse s tack and left the stable. Night, Max Kurt called out, the horse let out a soft whinny in reply.

Kurt hung up the tack in the barn and checked everything was in order, before heading back outside where it had started to rain. Great Kurt thought to himself. He dove back into the barn before his hair got wet and pulled out his cell phone. "Dad?" he said into the speaker. "Kurt? What s up?"

"Have you not seen the weather? Any chance you could come and pick me up?" Kurt said hopefully.

"Sorry, son, but the rain is coming down hard now, there will be so much traffic, and it will be quicker for you to walk home, than waiting for me to come get you! Sorry!" Burt answered.

Kurt sighed in annoyance, but understood. "Fine, just make sure there is a cup of tea with my name on it for when I get back, Dad! See you later" He hung up the phone and gathered up his bag. He turned back to the barn, making sure the horses were settled in their stables before pulling his hood over his head and venturing outside.

Kurt had two options go the long way round the houses or the shorter way back round the fields where he first had experience with horses. He looked up at the sky in dismay; the grey clouds showed no sign of going and the rain wasn t leaving off either. He turned towards the fields knowing, at least he would get home quicker.

Even though, the weather was terrible, Kurt still slowed down when he walked past Socks old field, it was where his love for horses began and his mood always lifted when being back there.

But this time, there were something wrong. There was a black horse in the middle of the field, rearing up, it s brown eyes filled with terror. There were two men just about holding it on a thin piece of rope, shouting abuse at the animal and pulling it sharply. Running on autopilot, Kurt leapt over the fence and ran towards the group, shouting "What do you think you are doing? Stop that!"

The men turned towards him "Get outta here, kid! You don t know what you re dealing with" one shouted at him, pulling the horse s tether sharply. The horse let out a roar and attempted to rear up again when the second man hit the horse on the flank with a whip. Kurt's anger was bubbling up inside him. "Leave him alone, he s done nothing to hurt you" Kurt said as calmly as he could, looking the taller man in the eye. "Well, we've only been paid to get rid of him, kid" here, the man looked to his companion "Name your price, and we will leave him alone" the man said with an evil glint in his eye. Kurt breathed in deeply and replied "I'm a 17 year old guy, where am I supposed to have the money to buy a horse? Just don't hurt him"

After a pause Kurt suddenly recalled what the man said "Wait! What do you mean get rid of him?"

"Well, this here horse's owner had paid us to get rid of him" the man said leaning his face closer to Kurt's with an emphasis on the 'get' . Kurt knew exactly what this man was going to do and it sickened him to the core but all he had on him was one dollar, there was no way the men would hand over the horse to him for that tiny amount. Kurt looked at the ground, not knowing what to say next. "Suit yourself kid" the man said, straightening up and pulling the horse's lead one more time, dragging him after him. The other man, who had yet to say anything, turned round to Kurt, gave him an evil smile and preceded to hit the horse sharply on his left back leg, three times. The horse screamed and reared up once more.

"WAIT!" Kurt shouted, not bearing to see the horse hurt anymore. "All I have is one dollar, please just let me take him, I won t bother you again, I promise, please" Kurt knew how desperate he sounded but for once, he didn t care, he just wanted to make sure that horse was safe. "What the hell kid, his owners already paid us, one dollar ain t gonna make a difference and he is a right little fucker anyway" the taller man shrugged and handed the rope over to Kurt. Kurt handed over the one dollar, eying the man warily as this seemed far too simple. But sure enough, they began to back off from the horse "Bye kid"the man who had done all the talking so far, walking away.

The other man, however, looked Kurt in the eye, and hit the horse twice more, once on his back, once on in the cut he had already made on the horse s left leg. He then smiled at Kurt and walked off. "You bastard!" Kurt shouted, trying not to let the tears in his eyes spill over the edge.

The horse had calmed down considerably now that the men had gone but it was clear how painful his leg was and the horse was keeping as far away from Kurt as possible. Kurt knew it would take a while for the horse to trust him but he would get there. They would get there together.

Kurt regarded the horse and somewhere, deep in his heartstrings, something pulled, he recognised this horse but he didn t know why. Then he noticed the cut on the horse s leg, which was spilling out fresh blood by the minute. Kurt pulled out his phone again and scrolled down to Rachel Berry. He never forgot, Doctor Berry, the vet who helped Tessa and Socks and now his daughter was in Glee club with Kurt and as much as he hated to admit it, she was one of his best friends. "Kurt?" she said happily as she answered the phone. "Rachel? I need your dad, I'm with a horse and no!" Kurt suddenly shouted when the horse collapsed to the ground, his eyelids slowly shutting. "Rachel! Tell him to hurry!" He quickly rattled off where he was and Rachel promised him her dad would get there as soon as possible and she was coming too. "Come on , buddy" Kurt said soothingly to the horse as he lay groaning on the wet grass. "You can make it"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Two

_**A/N- Thank you to all who read/put me on author alert! It makes me happy! :) Hope you enjoy and I promise, Blaine makes an appearence soon! Also, my beta is amazing - thank you oneandonlyhelen :)  
**_

It was the morning after Kurt had suddenly found himself with a horse. Dr Berry and Rachel had turned up incredibly quickly after Kurt had called. The horse was unconscious when they got there and for a while, Dr Berry was worried he wouldn t make it through but after much coaxing and soothing words from Kurt, the horse finally had opened his eyes.

It took them a while as the horse had a terrible limp but the three of them got the horse back to the yard and Kurt put him in a spare stable and stayed with him all night. He had called Burt to let him know he was safe and to come to the yard as soon as he could in the morning.

"Owww" Kurt said, rubbing his neck as he sat up from where he had been sleeping on the stable floor with the horse. His companion for the night however, was standing up looking a lot perkier. The horse was eying Kurt with curiosity and wariness. "Morning" Kurt said as he went to pat the horse who began shying away from him immediately. Kurt sighed again, he was determined to get this horse to trust him and soon.

Kurt walked out of the stable, shutting the door behind him. Dr Berry and Rachel had stayed in the barn overnight and had made makeshift beds for themselves. "Kurt?" Rachel said sleepily, hearing him walk in. "Hi" Kurt replied yawning. "How's he doing?"

"He's awake and looking happier but he s still frightened to death of me" Dr Berry had woken up by this point and said "Kurt, you know this place better than me, you make the horse some food, he's gonna be hungry and by looking at him, he's already very malnourished and after he's eaten, I can take a better look at him" Kurt nodded and headed in the direction of the food sacks at the back of the barn. Rachel followed him.

Kurt picked up a bucket and shovelled a few handfuls of chaff into it. Rachel passed over a sachet of multi-vitamin powder and chopped up an apple for the horse. Kurt smiled gratefully at her before grabbing her hand and they set off in the direction of the stable.

The minute, the bucket was on the floor, the horse's head was buried deep in it the food had gone in about a minute. "Whoa, boy, slow down, you're going to give yourself a stomach upset if you eat that fast" Kurt said laughing.

The horse looked expectedly at him and something inside Kurt triggered a faint memory of Socks. Kurt took a step back and properly looked at the horse. His black hair was matted and muddy, his back leg had an ugly red gash on it, his mane was scraggly but his front right foot had a perfect white sock just above his hoof. The other feet were caked in mud. No it can't be him, Kurt thought to himself.

"Rachel, can you get me a bucket of water and sponge from outside please?" She nodded and returned a few minutes later.

Kurt took the sponge, wet it and walked slowly towards the horse who was backing further into the stable. "Shush boy, I m not going to hurt you, I promise, I just want to make you feel better" Kurt said in a calm voice.

"Kurt, be careful" he could hear Rachel say faintly but all he was concentrating on was keeping the horse calm.

Eventually, the horse stopped panicking and allowed Kurt close to him. Kurt could feel the heavy breathing of the horse and never took his eyes off him before crouching down and placing the sponge to the horse s front left foot. The mud was still a bit damp from the rain from the night before and thankfully, it came off quickly revealing perfect white hair. Kurt gasped and moved onto the other feet cleaning them as fast as he could.

"No, you can t be him, Socks?" Kurt said quietly. The horse, hearing this name, pricked his ears forward and he looked at Kurt, the expression in his brown eyes turning from fear to one of familiarity. "It is you!" Kurt said happily. "Rachel, it s him, it s Socks!"

Hearing the name once again, Socks began to move towards Kurt seeing his former best friend again, had made Socks forget all that happened to him momentarily. He nudged Kurt s arm just like he had done, minutes after he was born and Kurt patted the horse's neck, a huge grin spreading across his face.

Rachel smiled at the pair and slowly backed away from the scene wanting the two to find each other again.

Kurt knew it would still take a while for Socks to fully get over the abuse that had happened to him but he was back in safe hands now and Kurt would never let him go again.

"KURT!" came a cry from the barn. "Julie?" Kurt replied, not wanting to leave Socks. "GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, HUMMEL!"

I'm guessing she realised we have a new inhabitant, Kurt thought to himself. Sighing, he patted Socks on the neck one more time before sheepishly walking outside.

"Morning, Julie" he said to the yard manager.

"What do you think you are doing? Bringing back injured horses in the dead of night? We barely have enough money to keep the horses we have got, let alone one's who are uninsured and injured!" Julie shouted at him.

"What did you want me to do Julie? Leave him? With those people?" Kurt answered back snappily. "He's a horse I knew, when I was younger, I refuse to let him stay anywhere but here."

Julie's face relaxed slightly, she knew what a caring boy Kurt was, the horses loved him and he loved the horse's, she wouldn t find a better stable hand. "Look, Kurt, I would rather him be here too with you looking after him but we can't afford it, the yard is barely surviving as it is"

Kurt had known for a while that the yard wasn t doing so well with money.

"I will pay for him, I bought him, and he's mine now. I promise Julie" Kurt said with a confident smile although he knew his dad wouldn t be so pleased.

Julie finally let her face fall into a smile.

"You re a good boy Kurt, Fine! Fine! Keep him!" Kurt ran to the woman and flung his arms round her

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will even work overtime and I won t moan or anything! Julie laughed and hugged Kurt back. You look after him Kurt, you get me my yard back she added with a sad smile.

Kurt kissed her on the cheek before running back to be with Socks. "Oh and Kurt, there s a new groom arriving today to replace Harry, make sure you look after him, His name is Blaine!" Julie shouted after him.

Dr Berry told Kurt that Socks had a fractured rib, a few cuts and bruises all over his body and the one gash on his back leg but he should make a full physical recovery, mentally however, was a different story. "You're the only one he will even begin to trust Kurt" Dr Berry informed him. "You're gonna have to spend an awful lot of time with him to help him"

Kurt had no problem with this he couldn t wait to build up the relationship he and Socks once had.

Kurt had been sat in the stable with Socks for at least three hours, just talking to him, comforting him.

"Erm, Hello?" Kurt heard a man s voice call from outside. It must be the new groom, Kurt thought walking out the stable into the barn again.

"Hello?" Kurt called out.

He guessed the new guy was stood outside the barn as there was no-one but the horses left in their stables inside. Kurt opened the door to the barn, just as Muffin, the yard cat decided to dart back inside causing Kurt to trip and fall right into the arms of the most gorgeous man he had ever laid eyes upon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Three

_**A/N- I'm giving you two chapters today, mainly because I want to get this story moving! :D Thank you for reading and shizz. My beta is awesome. Enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated! :D**_

"Hello" , the man said holding Kurt in his arms and smiling down at him.

"Hi" , Kurt said quickly, standing up straight again, although he found it strange how he suddenly missed the guy's arms around him, he shrugged off the feeling and held out his hand. "Kurt Hummel, you re the new groom? Blaine, right?" , Blaine took Kurt s hand and shook it letting his hand linger there a little moment longer than it should have done. "Blaine Anderson, nice to meet you Kurt" , smiling as he said it.

Kurt took in his appearance curly black hair, gorgeous hazel eyes, and a tight navy shirt showing off his muscular build. Kurt also noticed he was at least half a head shorter than himself.

The two boys looked at each other for a while and Kurt pulled himself together first. "You err, probably want the tour then?" Kurt said wondering why he had managed to turn into a bumbling fool around this insanely gorgeous man. "Sure", Blaine smiled again. Kurt gestured for him to follow him inside the barn mainly because he had become incapable of speech after witnessing Blaine s smile again.

"And finally, we have Max, Silver and Tia" Kurt said pointing to the final three horses at the end of the barn. Blaine reached out to pat Tia's muzzle as she playfully nudged his side in the hope of food. "She's a bit of a greedy one, careful" Kurt laughed.

"She's like me then" Blaine answered cheekily, pulling a mint out of his pocket and holding it to Tia who took it gratefully.

Muffin the cat was rubbing herself against Kurt s leg mewing sweetly. "ah, and this is the delightful cat that, um, introduced us earlier" Blaine said, crouching down to pick up the tabby cat who settled into his arms, still purring. "That's Muffin" Kurt said scratching the cat under the chin. "She is our resident mice-catcher"

Kurt was watching Blaine cuddling the cat and thinking how just how darn cute it was.

"It seems like a great place here, better than my last yard anyway" Blaine said to Kurt as they walked back towards Socks stable.  
"It is great here, we have fun" Kurt said with a small smile on his face.

"This is my horse Socks, we met when we were little, we were recently reunited" Kurt reached out to pat Socks who was looking wary of Blaine.

Blaine held his hand out for Socks to come to him instead of just patting him and scaring him. Huh, he s considerate too, Kurt thought trying to hide his smile. Socks eyes looked at Blaine carefully and he very slowly stretched his muzzle forward to nudge Blaine's hand. "You're the only other person beside me, he even wants to get near" Kurt said with a surprised tone.

"Maybe he likes me" Blaine said winking at Kurt.

"How could you tell he had trust issues?" Kurt asked softly.

"Aside, from the cut on his leg and the small one near his eye, he had the look in his eye my horse had before I found him the look of a horse that has been mistreated" Blaine said with a sad smile.

"What happened?" Kurt asked. Blaine looked over at him, opening his mouth and then closing it again. "Sorry, Blaine, I'm a nice person really, I just don t know how to shut my mouth on occasion" Kurt looked at the ground, mentally kicking himself. "No, no it s fine, it s just, err, Samson died last year, he was my first horse, it s just difficult to talk about"

"Oh, Blaine, I m sorr-"

"You didn t know, Kurt, its fine one day I will tell you what happened, I promise" Blaine said smiling again. Blaine looked conflicted for a moment before reaching out to

take Kurt s hand in his. "You seem like a good guy Kurt; I can't wait to get to know you"

"Why don t we go for a ride?" Kurt said quickly, never taking his eyes off their intertwined hands. "That way, I can show you the yard's fields"

"Sounds good to me" Blaine smiled up at Kurt.

Kurt what are you doing? You have a tonne of work to do here, you do not need to be riding horses with a handsome stranger, Kurt's inner monologue screamed at him but reason was just not listening today.

10 minutes later, Kurt had saddled up TJ, a large, muscular chestnut horse with a sweet disposition for himself to ride and Blaine had chosen to ride Darcy, a sleek black horse. They were walking up the paddock of the yard and Kurt couldn t help but notice how careful Blaine was with the horses, he was clearly an experienced rider and he seemed to understand Darcy.

Blaine was also, not so subtly, looking at Kurt while he was riding. Blaine was pretty sure he never seen such a beautiful man Kurt was hot and he liked horses, what more could Blaine want? Blaine had also noticed the silence between them was getting slightly awkward when...

"Ah crap" , Kurt shouted as TJ spooked at a bird hopping out a bush and the horse began to gallop wildly up the field. Blaine burst out laughing, letting Darcy chase after TJ. Soon, after he had caught, he realised this had suddenly become a competition between him and Kurt. Kurt was smirking over at Blaine, willing TJ to run faster TJ complied quickly, as an ex-hunting horse, he loved running and wouldn t stop for anyone.

"KURT! Okay, we give up!" Blaine laughed after about the fifth time of Kurt over-taking him by a bit, he could feel Darcy beginning to tire beneath him.

"Well Anderson, that s what you get for picking to ride one of the laziest horses on the yard" Kurt replied trotting back so he could talk to Blaine properly.

"No fair, you ve been working here since you were 12 years old, I've been working here for an hour and... I haven t even done any work yet! Shit! I m gonna get fired aren t I?" Blaine said, concern suddenly flooding his voice, looking right into Kurt s eyes.

"Umm, just tell Julia I led you astray" Kurt said quietly because he realised just quite how close Blaine s face was to his - well as close as you can get when you are sat on a horse.

Blaine broke the eye contact first. "Race you back?" he winked, kicking Darcy swiftly and cantering back towards the yard.

"Looks like working here suddenly got a lot more interesting TJ" Kurt said softly to the horse.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Four

**A/N- Hello! Review and enjoy! Thanks for reading and thanks to oneandonlyhelen for being an awesome beta :) Love Laura xo**

It had been about a week since Blaine had first started to work on the yard and so far, he had proved more than competent. He spoke to the horses in a calm and gentle voice, he made sure no horse was without water or food at any point, he cleaned the tack so well Kurt could have sworn he could see his face in it – but best of all, he stayed behind with Kurt to help with Socks.

The pair had been nursing Sock's injuries back to health. Socks still only really trusted Kurt to get totally near him but slowly and surely, he was letting Blaine in …and so was Kurt.

The times they had been spending together had been precious to Kurt.

Kurt normally shut up the yard on a night but he had been staying an extra hour or two to work with Socks. His ribs still weren't healed but he was able to walk better now so Kurt had been taking him on small walks every day.

Blaine had noticed that Kurt was staying for longer which is why the next day he said "Fancy some company?" Kurt could only agree.

The two boys had begun to get to know each other. Kurt learned Blaine went to Dalton Academy, a private school about an hour away from McKinley, he was the lead singer of 'The Warblers' Dalton's Glee Club – Kurt was now determined to one day hear Blaine sing. He had learnt to ride when he was about seven, saying he found happiness in horses that he never found anywhere else. He had an older brother named Cooper but he didn't like to talk about him.

Blaine had learned that Kurt was also in Glee Club – "Hey something else we have in common" Blaine had said when he found out. He learned Kurt's father had recently remarried so now he had a new stepmother and stepbrother. Kurt had also told Blaine how he had first met Socks which secretly Blaine thought was possibly the cutest story he had ever heard.

They had also both learned one very important thing about the other – they were both gay. And both very much attracted to each other…but that bit they hadn't discussed.

"Socks, look I know you have been stuck in a stable all day and this is the only exercise you are going to get but please stop running ahead. You will only injure yourself further and I cannot keep up with you" Kurt said matter-of-factly to the suddenly playful horse who kept striding ahead and dragging Kurt along behind him.

Blaine was walking behind the pair and couldn't help but laugh at how adorable Kurt was. Pepper the yard's dog had started to follow Blaine around like a …well like a puppy dog. Blaine had never owned a dog before and he liked having the little cocker spaniel as company for when Kurt was fighting to keep up with his horse.

"Socks! Please wait for me", Kurt raised his voice slightly, struggling with to hold back the horse who had noticed the apple tree near the end of the track they were walking on. "Socks wait… ahh!" The horse had pulled ahead just in time for Kurt to slip on a piece of wet grass beneath his feet. Kurt went crashing to the ground and he gave up on holding the horse's lead, he let go and Socks bounded over to the apple tree and began to munch happily on the windfall apples.

"Kurt? Are you okay?" Blaine said, not hiding the laughter in his voice particularly well. Kurt was still lying on the floor. "Just swell" he answered also trying not to laugh. Kurt reached up his hand for Blaine to pull him up. Blaine responded and went took Kurt's hand…when he soon found himself being dragged down to the floor.

"And that was for laughing at me Anderson" Kurt said, chuckling as Blaine toppled down next to him. "Okay, okay, I deserved that one, I'm sorry for laughing at the fact that your invalid horse can reduce the Kurt Hummel to the floor" Blaine said smiling.

Both boys laughed but at the same moment, the laughter started to die out, they turned their heads towards each other.

Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes and both of them mutually began to move their lips slowly towards each other. But "Ewww, Pepper" Blaine cried all of a sudden, the dog had wiggled between the two of them and was happily licking Blaine's face.

Blaine smiled at Kurt, almost wistfully but he stood up and pulled Kurt up by the hand.

The whole walk home, neither of them said anything but it was a comfortable silence, possibly because Blaine never let go of Kurt's hand.

What just happened? Kurt thought to himself. It also confirmed that this wasn't just a crush he had on Blaine, he was pretty sure he was falling in love.

It was a Saturday so Kurt was spending the entire day at the stables. Socks has been looking better recently and Dr Berry had informed Kurt that Sock's ribs were almost healed which means he could have a saddle put on him but no rider just yet.

Kurt had been cleaning tack, sat on the hay bale outside Socks' stable for the past hour. It was beyond him how Penny, one of the tiniest and the oldest horses on the yard, managed to get her bridle so mucky. Every now and again, Socks whinnied just to make sure Kurt hadn't left and this warmed Kurt's heart, the horse was finally beginning to trust him again.

"Kurt?" he heard Rachel's voice call from outside. "In here" he replied. She smiled at him as she walked into the barn, she was carrying Muffin the cat in her arms – the cat had a strange fondness of Rachel – while also trying to balance a small paper bag with the Starbucks logo on it.

"Thought I would find you here" she said, handing Kurt the paper bag. "Brought you some lunch seeing as I know you wouldn't have brought any yourself and you couldn't bear to leave your horses" The bag contained a sandwich, an apple and to-go coffee.

"Rachel, you are an angel, thank you" Kurt said, biting into the sandwich. He'd forgotten how hungry he got working here.

Rachel and Kurt chatted for a while the cat was slowly falling asleep on Rachel's lap.

Blaine walked through the barn door, dressed in black jodhpurs and a white polo shirt, smiling at the pair. "Hi Kurt"

"Hi… what are you doing here? I didn't think you worked until 4" Kurt asked him.

"Got bored at home, figured I would be more useful here, anything I can do?" He suddenly noticed Rachel perched on the hay bale next to Kurt. "Oh hello, I don't think we've met, I'm Blaine" offering his hand for her to shake.

"Rachel Berry" she said with a quick smile. "Wait, I know you! You're the lead singer of The Warbler's from Dalton right?"

"Guilty as charged"

"You have an amazing voice you know Blaine, I would know as I have an amazing voice myself. I watched a recent performance of yours on YouTube. But you know you really ought to-"

"Rachel, leave the man alone, he came here to do his job, not be harassed by you" Kurt interrupted with warning in his voice but he was chuckling slightly.

"Sorry" she said to Blaine. "I don't know when to shut up half the time"

Blaine smiled at her, before adding to Kurt "So is there anything I can do?"

"I'm not sure the horses in the end stables have got water, Mike had to leave early this morning and I haven't had time to check them yet" Mike Chang was a fellow glee-clubber with Kurt and Rachel but he worked part-time at the stables.

"Okay, be back in a bit" Blaine said, before wandering over to the other end of the barn.

After he was out of earshot, Rachel turned to Kurt. "Now, he is hot. With a capital H"

"Don't get any ideas, he's gay which means I call dibs" Kurt said, almost protectively which startled him a bit.

"I'm joking, Kurt, I'm perfectly happy with that step-brother of yours" Rachel laughed. "So, you like him then?" She asked Kurt quietly.

"Rachel! He's only over there! Shush!" Kurt said, in a fierce whisper.

"I said it quietly! And you didn't answer my question." She looked at Kurt pointedly.

"Fine, I like him, but please don't try to set me up, let me go about this myself" he said.

"Ha, I knew it. You've been a lot happier recently Kurt and I didn't think it was just because you got your horse back" she smiled at him. "Go for it, Kurt, his face practically lit up when he realised you were in here, I would say he likes you too"

Kurt didn't answer for a while but just smiled at the ground. "Really?" he said after a few moments.

"Really, Now go get your man Hummel!" she winked at him. Kurt shook his head in despair.

"Go on, get out of here, you're distracting me" Kurt said. She smiled at him again, before kissing him on the cheek and walking out of the barn. Muffin the cat ran away,

"Thank you for lunch!" he called after her.

"Anytime" came the reply.

Blaine had been watching the two friends from the other side of the barn. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he was pretty sure it was about him. He had finished filling up the water buckets in the last few stables and he was currently stroking the nose of Gibson, one of the yard's larger horses. Rachel left and he took that as his cue to go back and talk to Kurt.

"The waters are done" Blaine said as he walked back over to Kurt.

"Thank you" Kurt said smiling at him. That smile. It was all Blaine could think about. He was pretty sure he was falling for Kurt and after what happened the other night; he hoped Kurt felt the same way. He just had to find the right moment to make his move.

"So how is Socks doing?" Blaine asked. He tentatively reached out his hand to pat the horse and to his surprise, the horse allowed him too. Socks was coming to learn that not all people were bad.

He stroked the horse slowly down his neck and Socks let out a little sigh on content. "Good boy, Socks! You finally learnt that Blaine won't actually hurt you!" Kurt laughed.

"What can I say? It's my natural charm" Blaine said, giving Kurt a wink.

"Reckon we could try putting a saddle on him today?" Kurt wondered, looking to Blaine for a response.

"Well, seeing as I wasn't actually meant to be here for another two hours, I got time. Let's do it!"

Half an hour later, the pair had managed to get a saddle on top of Socks comfortably so it wasn't hurting his healing ribs. It was getting the bridle on him that had proved difficult. Socks didn't like the bit in his mouth and kept trying to spit it out, nearly biting Kurt on one occasion.

"I knew he wouldn't like it, those men I took him from used to yank him by the mouth" Kurt said disheartened.

"Wait, let me try something" Blaine had said, disappearing for a while.

Kurt played with Pepper the dog while Blaine was gone. Oddly, Socks had no problems with Pepper or Muffin, he let them stay in his stable a lot of the time, it just seems to be humans he had a problem with.

Blaine had returned with a bowl full of mashed up apples and a bit of honey. He dabbed a little of the mixture onto the bit and Socks eagerly took the bit into his mouth this time. "Yes!" Blaine had said triumphantly. "We had a horse at my last yard who hated the bit too, but we tried this on him and it worked like a charm" Blaine explained.

Kurt had put a lunge rein on Socks' bridle and he was standing in the middle of the yard school, helping Socks to walk around. "He seems to be going well" Blaine said.

Blaine was sat on the fence of the school with Pepper sat obediently near his feet. Pepper seemed just as interested in what was happening with Socks as Kurt and Blaine were. He watched the horse move around the school, panting happily.

Now his leg had healed properly, Socks didn't limp anymore. He moved very gracefully and carefully. It was obvious at some point, he had been a dressage horse but Kurt knew he must have done a lot of jumping as well because the muscles Socks had were built up very strong above his legs and near his shoulder.

"Kurt, why don't you try to get him to trot? He's been walking around for ages now" Blaine said.

"I don't wanna rush him" Kurt answered.

Blaine sighed and jumped off the fence. He walked towards Kurt, and put a hand on his shoulder from behind. "He's been cooped up in a stable for days with only short walks for exercise, he probably wants to run, have faith in him" Blaine said softly.

Kurt smiled and slowly picked up the lunge whip he had on the floor next to him. He couldn't make any sudden movements with it as he knew Socks would freak.

He tapped Socks' behind with a single fluid movement and the horse immediately picked up the pace and moved into a smooth trot. Socks had one of the most beautiful trots Kurt had ever seen. His legs moved carefully and he looked almost happy to be running again.

Kurt looked at Blaine and Blaine looked back at him – both were thinking the same thing. Blaine nodded. "He will love it"

Kurt tapped Socks' flank again and pushed him into a canter which Socks' willingly did so. Socks' canter was graceful and peaceful; he didn't look too bouncy or uncomfortable. Kurt couldn't wait to finally ride him properly.

They let Socks run for a little while longer before slowing him down and letting him cool off.

Back in Socks' stable, they were both un-tacking the horse. "Thank you" Kurt said all of sudden.

"For what?" Blaine frowned.

"For making me push him a bit, you were right, he needed to run, he needed to be shown he can have fun again"

Blaine smiled, "You're welcome, although I'm pretty sure you would have realised soon enough"

They went back into silence again until Kurt suddenly burst out "Do you want to come for dinner tonight?"

Blaine looked a bit taken aback but answered "umm, sure"

Kurt himself wasn't quite sure why he asked but it seemed like the right thing to do. He was just asking a friend over to dinner. Nothing wrong with that. No. It just happened that he liked said friend in _**that **_way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

**A/N- I'm so sorry this has taken so long! Hope you guys are still remembering this lil' story! 3**

* * *

"YOU ARE KIDDING ME?!" Kurt was practically jumping for joy.

It was the next day. Julie had requested that Kurt, Burt, Blaine and Carole join her at the yard.

"No Kurt, I'm not kidding. I want you to represent our yard in the regional competitions. If you win, you will go on to the Nationals and you will win a hell of a lot of money which could damn well save the yard!" Julie answered him, laughing.

"But why me? I'm nowhere near the best rider here!"

"Kurt. Calm down" Julie smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders and looking him directly in the eye. "I asked you because you are a brilliant rider, you understand the horses, Socks understands you. You can win this. I believe in you."

"I believe in you too" piped up Burt from the back of the room.

"Me too" Blaine said. Kurt flashed him a quick smile. He took a deep breath and said "I would be honoured too Julie, thank you!" he hugged the woman quickly.

Kurt couldn't believe it. He was 17. And competing in the most prestigious horse competition in the whole of the US! He would be one of the youngest ever competitors!

* * *

That evening, Kurt was sat on the hay bale outside Socks' stable talking to him softly. "When you're better, we are going to win this competition. I have faith in you."

Blaine walked into the barn silently, Muffin the cat had decided Blaine was her personal transport and was curled up in his arms as he walked. Kurt hadn't seen him yet.

"You know Socks, all my life; I had this small dream of competing in the US Horse Championships. I never told anyone. Of course, Broadway is my first dream but I always had this idea, that if that failed, I would ride and never stop. I could go off into the sunset with my cowboy lover" Kurt laughed at himself.

Blaine smiled and stayed in the shadows for a little while longer.

Kurt sighed and leant his head back on the stable door, his eyes closing. "What if I'm not good enough Socks? I'm not the strongest rider. The yard needs this money and if I lose it…I'd never forgive myself."

Blaine took this moment to step forward. "I wouldn't worry Kurt, I've seen you ride, you are amazing" he said, scratching the cat in his arms under the chin. Kurt's eyes snapped open at Blaine's voice.

"How long were you listening to me talk to my horse?" Kurt said with an embarrassed tone.

"Long enough" Blaine replied. Muffin started to squirm in Blaine's grip and he placed her on the ground quickly. She scampered after a mouse that was running away just as fast. Blaine laughed softly at them.

Blaine moved to sit on the floor in front of Kurt. "You need to remember how good a rider you are. I've seen you with the horses. You move with them. Some riders just ride. You…You believe in your horse and you ride with him."

Kurt smiled in return. "Will you be my training partner?" Kurt asked him, looking him the eye.

"Me? I…I would be honoured. Of course!" Blaine replied excitedly.

"Good because we will have to spend a lot of time together"

Somehow, neither of them had a problem with this.

* * *

Sock's ribs had healed properly now so the training for the competition could begin.

There was something both of them learned the first day of training – Socks hated jumping.

It had been going successfully at first, Socks moved from gait to gait with effortless grace and Kurt was beginning to think they actually had a shot at getting somewhere in the competition.

"Shall we try a jump?" Blaine suggested from the side. Kurt had agreed.

Blaine put two traffic cones in the middle of the school and placed a pole between them.

However, when Kurt lined the horse up to go over the jump, Socks pulled back and attempted to buck Kurt off a few times. "Woaaaah boy" Kurt cried, trying his best to keep on the agitated horse. Eventually, Kurt gave up and half fell, half leapt of the horse. Blaine rushed forward to help him up. "Kurt are you okay?!" he asked urgently.

"Fine, I'm fine, get the horse" Kurt replied. Socks had ran to the far corner, cowering and shivering. Blaine stepped back to let Kurt walk in front of him. "Shush boy. It's okay. It's okay" Kurt whispered soothingly, stopping a metre away from the horse, holding his hand out. Socks eyed it warily before nudging his muzzle against Kurt's palm. Kurt took this opportunity to grab the reins and sigh with relief as that had been a lot easier than expected.

"Think training is done for the day" Kurt smiled sadly and pulled gently on the rein to get Socks to move. Blaine leant on the fence of the school, watching Kurt and his horse as they walked back towards the stables. This is going to take some time, he thought to himself, chewing on his bottom lip like he always does when he was nervous.

Back in Sock's stable, Kurt was untacking the horse quickly and not saying anything. "Let me take that" Blaine said, holding out his arms for the saddle in Kurt's. Kurt passed it over with a small smile of thanks and followed Blaine out of the stable.

Once they had put the tack away, Blaine turned to Kurt, a look of concern in his hazel eyes "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine" Kurt mumbled. Blaine raised an eyebrow and placed his hand on Kurt's forearm, Kurt gasped slightly at the contact. "I'm just thinking we are not gonna be ready. The first preliminary competition is in four weeks. The horse won't even jump with attempting to throw me on the floor. He still is getting through his trust issues. He is still thin as a rake. I am not a good enough rider to be competition, I'm far too inexperienced and oh." Kurt stopped his sentence because Blaine had wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Kurt gingerly returned the hug before sighing and hugging Blaine back properly.

"You can do this. I believe in you Kurt. I will always be there to support you and help you. We can do this. Okay?" Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear.

"Thank you" came the small reply. Kurt pulled away from the hug and squeezed Blaine's hand softly before walking away.

Huh, maybe we can do this, Kurt thought to himself as he left Blaine staring after him.

* * *

**A/N- Leave me feedback :) I enjoy it :) xo**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**A/N- Oh my god look another update! What is this madness?! Anyway, this is a pretty long one...I didn't want to all these parts as seperate chapters because they would have been really short so I figured one long one is better. Thank you for reading and everything :) Would love your feedback as always.**

* * *

It was two weeks to the big competition. Socks had come on leaps and bounds in every aspect of the competition …apart from jumping. Still.

Socks and Kurt knew the dressage practically off by heart, he moved from transition to transition with effortless grace.

What Kurt found strange was that, Socks could face the cross country course – as the jumps did not look like 'typical' jumps, without the coloured poles, he found them easier and he actually went over them, revealing that Socks could actually jump… and was pretty darn good at them.

Kurt and Blaine were sat on the grass outside the barn, eating while the weather was nice. Blaine had been quiet for a while and he was staring over at the coloured show jumping poles intently. Kurt nudged him gently in the ribs. "Blaine? What's the matter?"

"It's only the coloured poles he is scared of" he said, not particularly answering Kurt, more just thinking aloud.

"Um, yeah, thought we already knew that" Kurt said, turning back to his lunch.

"No, I mean he can jump brilliantly, we know that, it's the pole he is scared of. So, why?" Blaine said looking expectantly at Kurt who frowned.

"Kurt, I mean why is afraid of just the coloured poles? He was abused in the past right? He had broken ribs? That could have been broken by being hit with poles? Are you getting any of this?" Blaine said, eagerly. "If we knew why he was scared, we could help him!"

Slowly, Kurt nodded and smiled. "One second." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled Rachel Berry.

"Kurt! Hey!"

"Rach, is your dad around?"

"Hmm, sure" she said, sounding a little put off that he wanted her dad.

"Kurt? Hello"

"Mr Berry? Hi! I need to ask you a question about Sock's injuries."

"Go ahead"

"The broken ribs he got? Could he have broken them by being hit by a pole? One of the show jumping poles?"

There was a pause while Dr Berry thought about his answer.

"Yes, yes, I suppose, they were cracked and broken on the outside. They could have been hit by a pole."

"Thank you Mr Berry, tell Rachel I will call her later for me please?"

"Sure, bye Kurt!"

"You, Blaine, are a genius! Thank you!" Kurt was about to just stand up and leave before rethinking his actions and kissing Blaine quickly on the cheek. Blaine sat there in a complete daze, raising his hand to his cheek as Kurt ran off. Stop it, Blaine, you're blushing, he thought to himself.

* * *

"Kurt are you sure this is going to work?" Blaine asked, worry wavering in his voice.

"No" he replied. He had found some old jumping poles, where the paint had begun to peel off and its colour was way past its best and was setting them up around the school. Blaine was holding Socks whose brown eyes were set on the poles warily, but he wasn't struggling …yet. Every few seconds, Socks nuzzled his nose into Blaine's shoulder, almost if asking Blaine to confirm the poles won't hurt him anymore.

Blaine stroked the horse down his neck and patted him softly, to keep him calm.

Kurt was finally satisfied with the course he had set up and he smiled briefly at Blaine before saying "Let's do it"

Kurt took a deep breath and sat himself comfortably on the horse. He felt Socks tense underneath every time they walked past a pole as he warmed the horse up gently. "Blaine, if I end up on the floor, promise you will call me an ambulance immediately okay?"

"I promise" Blaine said, smiling at Kurt to try and keep him confident…on the inside though, Blaine was worried – it was only a hunch he had gone on here and Kurt could end up seriously injured. Blaine moved to sit on the fence of the school, Pepper the dog was sat outside, waiting patiently, watching the horse and it's rider with his brown eyes, Blaine gave him a quick pat on the head before turning his full attention back to Kurt.

"I think we're ready" Kurt said, lining Socks up towards one of the jumps. "Come on boy. We can do this. You're safe now. It will not hurt you" Kurt didn't want to go in as a full jump to start with, so the pole was only a few centimetres off the ground in order to try and get Socks to at least walk over it.

Kurt gave Socks a little squeeze with his legs to get him to move forward and he did so, but warily. He put each foot down carefully and his normally turned forward ears were set back in worry. Blaine's breathing had slowed down and he was watching them anxiously. Kurt's eyebrows burrowed in concentration as he focused on the wooden pole. Socks had come within about ten centimetres of the pole, when he decided he couldn't go over it and he began to rear up violently. The whites of his eyes became larger and he moved himself backwards while on his hind legs. Kurt pulled sharply on the horses' mouth and pushed his feet down into the stirrups as hard as he could; making sure all his weight was on the horse so Socks had no choice but to go back to four legs.

Blaine had jumped off the fence and ran to Kurt's aid, grabbing Socks' reins once he had come back down to Earth. "Are you okay?" Blaine asked, his hand reaching out to grab Kurt's thigh to keep him on place on the saddle.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Kurt gushed. "Is he alright?" he asked in concern, looking at his horse and trying really hard not to make a big deal of the fact that Blaine's hand was still holding his leg.

Blaine shushed the horse and seemingly, he was fine. He just didn't want to jump at all. "You wanna try again?" Blaine asked.

"I have no choice. The competition is in two weeks. We have to get him to do this. I can't be the laughing stock already, Julie has so much faith in me" Kurt said, his entire face an expression of anxiety.

"I've told you. You can do this" Blaine smiled and suddenly realised, his hand was still gripping Kurt's thigh rather intently and pulled it away instantly. "Sorry" he murmured. "I will be over here" he swallowed and walked back over towards the fence of the school.

Kurt lined Socks up again in front of the jump, however this time, the horse had sensed something he had to do for Kurt, if not for himself. He looked warily at the jump. Socks hadn't been hurt by these poles before and he trusted the people here. The boy who looked after as young horse who had come back into his life like a miracle and his curly haired companion wouldn't hurt him. Maybe he could do this.

From his position on the fence, Blaine whispered to the wind, "Come on"

From his position on the horse, Kurt whispered to Socks, "You can do this"

Socks walked towards the jump, each step a little more confident than the other. Finally, lifting his feet a little higher, he stepped over the wooden pole gingerly with one hoof. Realising, it wouldn't do anything; Socks brought the other legs over the pole and he was safely on the other side. Both Kurt and Blaine's faces erupted into smiles. Kurt patted Socks on the neck happily and leant down to kiss his mane. Blaine rushed towards them and grabbed Socks by the nose, kissing the horse's muzzle quickly, then receiving a high five from Kurt.

"You did it!" Blaine exclaimed.

"We did it" Kurt said, satisfied.

* * *

_12 days until competition_

Two days later and Socks had successfully walked over every jump. Kurt decided it was now time to actually get him to jump. Blaine set the jump up so it was about 70cm off the ground, not too small but nowhere big enough for the championship jumps. They knew Socks could clear the cross country ones okay so the bigger show jumping ones had to be just as a good. It was just a case of getting Socks there.

Kurt lined him up and set Socks off into a quick but controlled trot, moving towards the jump. Socks jumped it but hastily, almost as if he shut his eyes, jumped and hoped for the best. The jump made Kurt unbalanced and he had to grab the saddle quickly to stop himself sliding off the side. "Whoa, boy, little more careful next time please!" Kurt chuckled, once he was back in control of the horse.

After a few more attempts, Socks managed to get over the jumps without the threat of throwing Kurt off each time. After an hour, Socks could get over the jump perfectly, without knocking it down, without injuring Kurt and not being scared.

Although this was a massive step for Socks, these jumps were nothing like the ones in the competition and Blaine was concerned. The jumps in the competition were a lot bigger and a lot more colourful. Socks still skittered at any of the coloured poles.

Kurt was busy congratulating the horse but Blaine stayed silent, as he watched them.

Two hours later, Kurt was grooming Socks and was letting the horse lazily munch on some hay.

Blaine walked in, Muffin the cat at his heels. She seemed to have taken a liking to Blaine.

Kurt smiled when he saw Blaine leaning his arms on top of the stable door. "Hey, gimme five minutes then we can go" Kurt said. They were meant to be going out for coffee after they had finished work. Blaine nodded and only gave a small smile in return.

"Are you okay? You've been quiet all afternoon" Kurt asked, concerned.

Blaine took a deep breath in, figuring he may as well just jump right into it. "I, er, I'm not sure using Socks in this first competition is a good idea" Kurt froze for a second, but he turned away from Socks and gave Blaine his full attention.

"What do you mean?" Kurt said, his voice cold and his eyes narrowing.

Blaine reached a hand up to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously. "You are allowed to use different horses for each competition if you want to. Sure, Socks is great in the dressage and the cross country but if he doesn't do well in the jumping, you're out. You are too good a rider to be out at the first hurdle. I'm just thinking maybe if you used Darcy or another horse for this first part. Train Socks up, use him for the rest of the competition. Get through this one first" Blaine said.

"So then all of this training has been for nothing then if I don't use him now? No, we use Socks for all the competition. All of them. No other horse has ever connected with me like this. I don't think I could do it on another horse. I trust him, he trusts me. This isn't about the winning to me Blaine, this is about doing something I love"

"But you never would have agreed to do the competition if a small part of you didn't think 'you know I could actually win this!' "Blaine argued, his voice raising a little.

"Of course, I hope I can get somewhere in this competition but at the end of the day, there will be other ones! I want to do this on Socks. He's my horse!"

"But he can't do the jumping!"

"He did it today"

"Yeah, one that was about half the size of the smallest jumps at the competition. Plus, if he sees colour, he will freak! All I'm saying is maybe you could get through on a different horse! The second competition isn't for another two months. Get Socks to the best he can be and then use him!"

"Have you not been listening? I want to ride Socks now Blaine!" Kurt was getting angrier by the second now. Socks was peering at the boys with interest.

"Yeah, I heard you say that. But why don't you listen to me? The competition is in twelve days Kurt. As much as I have faith in you as a rider and as much as I love Socks, I don't think you are good enough yet"

"So I'm not a good enough rider, is that what you are saying?" Kurt asked, his eyebrows shooting upwards.

"No! Of course not! I'm just saying the horses in this competition will be jumping a lot stronger than he is right now. I get he is scared and I want to help him"

"How would you know what he feels like Blaine? How would you know what a scared horse feels like when you are riding them? You're just a groom"

Blaine's eyes fell with hurt, as painful memories came flooding back about Samson, his first horse. Blaine knew exactly what it felt like to be on a scared and scarred horse.

"I take it our coffee date is off?" Blaine said coldly, he turned on his heels and walked away.

Kurt placed his face in his hands with regret when he realised what he had just said. Of course, Blaine was a rider. Kurt thought about going after him but Blaine had hurt his feelings too. Did Blaine really think Socks couldn't do this?

Maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

_11 days until the competition_

The next morning, Kurt was sat outside Socks' stable, his head resting on his hands, he knew Blaine was here, he had seen his car outside but obviously, he was avoiding Kurt.

They were meant to be having another training session for Socks in twenty minutes but seeing as Blaine hadn't turned up yet, Kurt was wondering whether he should just do it alone. And as much as he hated to admit but, when Kurt was lying in bed the previous night, he couldn't help but wonder whether Blaine was right, maybe he would have to ride Darcy or someone else for this one competition.

There was a cough from the doorway of the stable barn. Kurt looked up to see Blaine standing there, looking a little sheepish.

"Umm, Hi?" Blaine said, warily.

"Hello" Kurt said, offering a tiny embarrassed smile, standing up to face Blaine properly. Blaine took the few steps forward so he was now directly in front of Kurt. There was an awkward moment of silence before they both starting talking.

"I'm sorry" "About yesterday"

They both laughed a little at how awkward it was. "You speak first" Kurt said.

"I'm sorry for yesterday. I should never have doubted you and Socks as a team. I'm really sorry. I promise you. I do believe in both of you, you can do this. I was just worried you and Socks were both going to end up hurt if you didn't train him properly or if you lost at the first competition. But you can do this." Blaine said, quickly and not really looking at Kurt until the last sentence.

"I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean it when I said you were just a groom, I respect you and your riding opinions so much. When I said I couldn't do this competition without Socks, I lied. I also couldn't do it without you. I understand what you meant. Socks might not be able to do this. But I want to try. What's life without a little risk?" Kurt replied.

"Friends?" Blaine asked hopefully, his forehead scrunching as he said it. In answer to his question, Kurt hugged Blaine tightly. Both of them smiled over each other shoulders.

"Come on Anderson, that horse won't train itself!" Kurt said, pulling back from the hug.

* * *

_6 days until competition_

The training, so far, had been a success. Socks could now jump the competition height poles with ease but today, they had to try with coloured poles. "I don't know about this Blaine" Kurt said, uneasily from his seat on Socks' saddle. Blaine had set the jump up small to start with but this time, it had the brightly coloured poles laid on it. Kurt had already felt the horse tense underneath him and they were a good few metres away from the jump.

"All we can do is try and hope" Blaine said, encouragingly. Internally however, he wasn't so sure either.

Kurt frowned upon lining himself up to the jump. Socks' ears went back straight away and he attempted to move backwards but Kurt kept his grip on Socks' mouth firm. Horses can sense when their rider is tense or nervous which makes them scared…Kurt was not helping at this moment in time.

Kurt pushed Socks forward but the horse was having none of it and immediately dived to the side. It took a lot of coaxing from Blaine to persuade both horse and rider to try again. "I hate making him do this Blaine" Kurt said sadly.

"I know, I know you do Kurt, but we have to try" Blaine answered soothingly. "Let me try" he said all of a sudden.

"What?" Kurt said. "No-one but me has ridden him yet. Maybe that's not a …" Kurt trailed off as he looked at Blaine who was smiling both persuasively and innocently at the same time. "You sure?" Kurt asked Blaine after he had jumped off the horse.

"My old horse used to have a few problems with jumping, I got him through that" Blaine shrugged and clambered onto Socks. Blaine didn't line up towards the jump straight away; he walked around it in a large 20m circle, spiralling inwards so that Socks had time to inspect the jump and be near it but with Blaine's thigh staying firmly on his flank, he couldn't shy away from the jump either. Blaine did the spiral four or five times. Socks' trust issues had improved majorly, proving this by allowing Blaine to ride him comfortably.

Kurt was sat on the fence, watching them. He just hoped Blaine knew what he was doing. He had made a secret pact with himself – if Socks didn't jump one coloured pole jump properly, he would do the first competition on Darcy instead. As much as he hated himself for doing that, it's the best thing to do.

Blaine had lined up a surprisingly calm Socks before the jump. The horses' ears were back but he wasn't trying to move away from the jump. Blaine glanced at Kurt briefly before pushing Socks onward. "Come on boy" Kurt breathed out, quietly.

Socks moved forward and with a giant leap, he flew over the tiny jump so his body didn't touch it in anyway and Blaine lurched forward.

"Blaine!" Kurt cried, almost falling off the fence in fright. Blaine grabbed hold of Socks' mane and pulled himself back into position. "He cleared it! Holy shit! He cleared it!" Blaine laughed in astonishment, a smile breaking on his face.

Kurt beamed with pride. "Socks! You beauty!" Kurt ran towards his horse and kissed his mane.

"How did you do that?" Kurt asked, the smile on his face not fading.

"We tried it with my horse Samson. He was scared of jumps for a while. So we made him go near them for a while but not over them and eventually something clicks inside, they realise it's okay."

"Thank you" Kurt said, smiling at Blaine, reaching out to squeeze his hand.

"Anytime" Blaine beamed, jumping off Socks and giving him a long pat on the neck.

* * *

_2 days until competition_

Socks had gotten a lot better. He could clear most coloured pole jumps without shying now but occasionally, he remembered. They had jumped one clear round today so Kurt was hoping this was progress and not a fluke.

Kurt was sat on his bed, watching some rubbish on TV although he wasn't really paying attention to it. He was thinking – and worrying – about the competition. Would he get through? Will Socks be okay? What if he freezes?

His internal worries were interrupted by a loud buzzing sound.

_One new message: Blaine (1) _displayed Kurt's phone. Frowning a little, he unlocked it. He knew Blaine was working late tonight but past 9:30 is a little bit ridiculous.

The message read : _Can you come to the yard? – B x_

_What's happened? Is Socks okay? – K x_

_He's fine, I promise :) I just have something to show you – B x_

_Okay, will be there in 10…-K x_

_Perfect: D – B x_

Kurt smiled a little – Blaine was goofy and charming even in text. "Dad, is it okay if I go to the yard for a bit?" Kurt called out, not really knowing where his father was in the house.

"Why?" came the muffled reply from somewhere.

"Blaine asked me too"

There was a brief pause before Burt replied. "Whatever, be home by 11 at the latest!"

"Thank you!" Kurt smiled, even if his dad couldn't see him. He pulled a hoodie on over his t-shirt and kept his tight black skinny jeans on. He was hoping Blaine wasn't expecting him to ride…or look remotely smart.

Kurt pulled his car up outside the yard at about 9:50 and Blaine was waiting by the gate for him. "Hello" Blaine said when Kurt got out the car.

"Hey, so why the late night meeting?" Kurt asked. Blaine smiled and simply linked his arm with Kurt's, dragging him towards the barn.

"Blaine, what's happening? oh" Kurt's voice was trailed off by what he saw in the barn. Socks was standing in the barn, his coat sleek and shiny, his tack polished to the absolute max and there was an enormous banner saying 'GOOD LUCK KURT' draped across between the stable stalls.

"Blaine, you did all this?" Kurt asked, in astonishment. Blaine smiled and nodded. Kurt didn't want to train Socks the day before the competition so he wasn't tired so Kurt had been planning on cleaning all the tack and sorting everything tomorrow. But it seemed Blaine had done everything.

The tack was clean, Socks' tail had been done in plaits and his mane had been pulled neatly, the horsebox was out.

"Why?" Kurt said almost breathless.

"Because I needed to make sure that the best rider in the competition that didn't have to worry about anything before he had to ride. I'm your friend Kurt, I told you, I'm going to help you in any way possible and this seemed like a pretty good way to help"

"Of course it is! Blaine, this is amazing! How can I thank you enough? Come here!" Kurt exclaimed, pulling Blaine in for a hug. "Seriously, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me" Kurt whispered in Blaine's ear as he hooked his chin over Blaine's shoulder.

"You're worth it Kurt" Blaine replied softly.

* * *

**A/N-** **Not sure when next update will be but it's competition time! Leave me reviews my darlings!xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**A/N- Here it is! First competition! and first something else as well ;) Enjoy! Love L xo**

* * *

It was the day of the competition. Kurt first waking thought was 'holy shit'. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced over at the clock, where it blinked 5:42 at him. He didn't have to be up until six but he figured he was awake now and there was no way he was sleeping anymore. He sat up and he noticed his phone was flashing at him.

"Courage" the text read. Blaine had gotten up this early just to text Kurt. Blaine wasn't meant to be meeting Kurt until at least 9am at the competition yard. Kurt couldn't hide the smile on his face. Blaine was literally the cutest human being on the planet.

But Kurt pulled himself together and got out of bed. He had to focus now.

Today was the day.

* * *

Luckily Socks had been in a rather good mood this morning so getting him in the horse box, getting Kurt, Burt and Socks to the competition and getting Socks back out of the box had all gone rather smoothly. The dressage competition started at 11 and Kurt was on seventh out of 15 competitors. It was about 9:15ish, Kurt had kind of lost track of time.

Kurt was sat outside Socks' stable area. Each horse and rider got a section of a stable to themselves. It consisted of a stall, small tack area and a 'relaxation area' for the rider which had a mini-fridge and sofas.

Kurt suddenly heard a familiar voice from outside. "Kurt?"

Blaine popped his head around the corner; he was in jodhpurs and a red polo shirt, a smile plastered on his face. "Hey! I brought you a coffee"

"Oh Blaine, you are a star, thank you!" Kurt took the coffee gratefully. Kurt flopped himself down onto one of the sofas and Blaine joined him once he had gotten rid of his bag. "So how are you feeling? Nervous? Excited?"

"Mixture of every feeling possible I think" Kurt replied.

"You'll be fine. Socks will be fine" Blaine smiled encouragingly and placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Well, well, well, Anderson"

Blaine's eyes flickered towards where the voice came from and stood up when he realised who it was. "Sebastian. Always a pleasure" Blaine said coldly, regarding the taller man who was now stood by Socks' stable. Socks clearly didn't like the man and his ears had pricked backwards.

"What are you doing here? Thought you had given up the riding game ever since your stupid little pony died"

"Don't you dare call Samson stupid in front of me. Or at all. And it's none of your business what I'm doing here"

Sebastian looked between Blaine and Kurt – noting that Kurt was the one in competition clothing – and smirked. "Ah, I see, you're just the groom. Did the pretty pep boy not get his pony back from Daddy?"

"Oh shut up Sebastian, you're just jealous because I won that competition and no matter how hard you tried to protest, me and Samson won. And you know full well it's your fault my horse died. Now, piss off and go annoy someone else" Blaine said. Kurt eyed Blaine curiously – he had never seen Blaine mad and it was actually quite interesting. However, Kurt did not like this guy.

"No way Blainers, you're the one who let your horse die. So who are you then?" Sebastian nodded towards Kurt.

"I'm Kurt Hummel. And if you don't mind, you are freaking out my horse and angering my groom so I would appreciate it if you would get out" Kurt gave a condescending smile.

"And if I don't?" Sebastian took a suggestive step towards Socks, who pounded his foot on the floor.

"Everything okay in here boys?" Burt stepped out from behind Sebastian, closely flanked by Finn. Now Sebastian was taller than Kurt and Blaine but he didn't quite reach Finn's height or Burt's threatening look.

"Sebastian was just leaving" Blaine narrowed his eyes at the guy. Sebastian sniffed and turned on his heels out of the area.

"Who is he?" Kurt asked Blaine, who was fuming silently.

"Sebastian Smythe. He went to my old yard, me and him never really got along. But I beat him at a steeplechase competition. It wasn't even a major one but he tried to tell everyone I cheated. I didn't obviously. Whatever, what is he even doing here?" Blaine sat down on the sofa, his head resting on his chin.

"Blaine, look forget about him, he's a prick. Not to sound big headed, but let's focus on me instead okay?" Kurt scooted along the sofa until he was next to Blaine.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry. It's your day" Blaine's smile returned.

* * *

Dressage Time.

Kurt was sat on Socks ready to go into the arena. He wasn't too worried about this part of the competition. Blaine was just putting the finishing touches to Socks' mane and double checking everything looked perfect.

The announcer said "Kurt Hummel on Dressed Up Socks" Yes, he knew it was a strange competition name but he didn't want to change Socks' name so much.

Blaine patted Socks' neck and gave Kurt a huge grin. "Good luck, you'll be great!"

Kurt walked into the arena and stopped in the centre and gave his salute. He glanced to the side where he saw Burt, Carole, Finn and Rachel all sat watching him with expressions of encouragement and anxiety. He took a deep breath in and moved Socks forward into a walk, turning right when he reached the top of the arena. Socks vaguely remembered the routine from practice and immediately went into a trot, which gave Kurt some confidence. The trot went on down the side until the H end of the school where Kurt sat back and Socks moved into a canter.

A twenty-metre circle later and Socks was back into a walk. Down a diagonal line of H to F Kurt gave and retook the reins and gathered them back up straight into a trot.

After a few circles, transitions and a collected canter down one side, Kurt made his way back into the middle and saluted once more.

Leaving the arena he was met with a dirty look from Sebastian but he thought nothing of it.

Blaine greeted him with a huge smile and he helped him get off Socks. "Kurt, that was brilliant! Your score must be one of the best ones!"

Kurt smiled – he personally thought one of the transitions had taken far too long and he would end up getting a penalty on it.

The announcement came bursting through the arena and its surrounding areas "Kurt Hummel's final dressage score is 40. 20"

Kurt's eyes widened and he turned to Blaine. "What?" he asked in shock.

"I told you it was good! Forget good, it was fantastic!" Blaine was beaming at him. Kurt looked out to the audience where Burt gave him a huge smile and thumbs up.

After all the other competitors had gone and Sebastian Smythe had ended up with a score of 45.80 after his horse had stumbled down on side –an event which Blaine found rather amusing.

It was revealed that Kurt was in fourth place with Sebastian in sixth. This was better than Kurt could ever had expected. He had five hours to wait for the cross country – it was an evening event on a flood lit course. Unfortunately all he could do in those few hours was freak out.

* * *

"Thanks" Blaine said to the girl who had just come to each competitor with the stats for the cross country course. He scanned it quickly - 6km, 10:06 time limit, 36 jumps – not too difficult but it was a tough time limit. But Kurt could pull it off.

"Kurt? Cross country course stats for you" Blaine smiled, flopping down on the couch next to Kurt, handing over the paper. Kurt's eyes raced over the paper but he smiled. "Doesn't seem too difficult huh?"

"You'll be fine, Socks can handle the cross country and you are an excellent rider" Blaine smiled, poking Kurt on the shoulder. It was only them and Socks in the stable area now. Finn and Rachel had gone wandering somewhere and Burt and Carole had gone to eat.

Kurt put down the piece of paper in his hands and turned to face Blaine, sitting cross legged on the couch. "Look, I know you don't want to talk about it but who is Sebastian really? He's seem like more than just someone who tried to accuse you of cheating" Blaine sighed and faced Kurt, sitting in the same position as him.

Blaine started playing with his hands, wringing them together and looked down at them. "He tried to blind me and he ended up ultimately killing Samson" Blaine said quietly.

"He what?" Kurt shrieked, causing Socks to jump from where he was resting in his stable, protesting with an annoyed whinny.

"Shush boy. Blaine. Is that true? That's awful. " Kurt asked. Blaine still didn't look up and Kurt let him tell the story in his own time.

"Samson was my best friend. I had him since I was seven years old and he was a cracking horse. He really was. He moved brilliantly. Sebastian comes from a very rich family and he was only in the horse business for the money his father makes off racehorses. Sebastian mistreats his horses Kurt, not seriously, like they get food and clean bedding but he hits them hard if they don't do something right first time. So when he moved to our yard, I kept Samson out of his way. Samson is the son of two prize horses and therefore worth a lot of money, so obviously Sebastian wanted his mitts on him. His dad even asked my dad if he could buy him but I refused to sell Samson. Anyway, our yard has an annual steeplechase competition and I entered on Samson. On the final straight, Sebastian's horse tripped over a piece of tree root and then me and Samson over took him. I won. Sebastian tried to convince everyone I had cheated by distracting him or something but no-one believed him" Blaine paused for breath and he finally glanced up at Kurt who was smiling sadly at him.

"Sebastian has a few anger issues. A few nights later, I was trying to sleep but I just couldn't. You know when you sense something is wrong? You don't know what but you just know something is wrong. I biked down to the yard to check on Samson and his stable door was open. Sebastian was in Samson's stable, hitting him with a large stick. At the time I didn't think, I pushed Sebastian out of the way and shoved him on the floor. We fought for a bit and then he grabbed a handful of grit from the stable floor. He got the grit in my eye and well, it fucked my eye up pretty well. I had look like a pirate for two weeks. So I had surgery and my eye is fine now but I got out of the hospital and went to the yard to see Samson. I took him out for a ride and I noticed a car following me. Sebastian. I had to stop at a crossroads and he didn't. The car went straight into the back of Samson's legs and it frightened him beyond belief. He wasn't hurt, just scared so Sebastian drove off. But then when the noise of a car or an engine went off he freaked out. He bucked, he reared, and it got so bad I couldn't ride him out anywhere. I don't think Sebastian meant for what did happen to happen, he just wanted to render Samson useless. But I left for the day, thinking I had shut his stable door properly, the lock on his stable had always been a little loose. The yard tractor started up and Samson freaked out, kicking his door and it fell off the hinges. Samson ran out straight into the opposite wall of the barn. He died on collision"

"Blaine, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have made you say all that"

"I would have told you at some point anyway" Blaine smiled sadly.

"Are you gonna be okay? You don't have to stay for the rest of the day if you want"

"And miss the competition? No way, I told you I would be here for you" Blaine's smiled cheered up a little bit.

"But –"

"No buts. I'm staying"

Kurt sighed and reached out for Blaine's hand, squeezing it gently. "Thank you for everything. You've been a star, really you have"

Blaine placed his other hand over Kurt's and kept it there. "It was all you" Blaine replied. Both of them looked up at the same time and their eyes locked. Mutually, they leant forward, their lips almost touching when …

"Kurt?"

Springing apart, as Rachel wandered into the room, Kurt answered "Erm, yeah?"

"Sorry, was I interrupting something?" she said, looking at the pair. Yes, they both thought.

"No, what's up?" Kurt said, finally turning away from Blaine.

"They were asking all the riders to start getting ready for the cross country, I thought I'd better tell you"

"Right, okay, thanks, I'll see you soon" Kurt said, he was still flustered from the-almost-kiss.

"Bye" Rachel gave them a strange look but she left anyway.

"I'll go get Socks ready" Blaine said, standing sheepishly and heading towards the stable. Kurt proceeded to bang his head against the wall once Blaine had left.

* * *

Kurt was in the line-up for the beginning of the cross country. Blaine was stood with Rachel and Finn, near the finish line, watching the screen that followed the riders as they went round the course.

The shot was fired and Socks went into a fast canter to start with, flying over the first few jumps perfectly.

"No!" Blaine cried, when Socks went too fast around a corner, therefore the balance on the next jump was wrong and the pole fell down. 4.00 penalties, Blaine thought to himself, that's not too bad it's okay.

The rest of the jumps weren't too bad; there was one very close shave on the water jump where Socks slipped but he got it back and there were no penalties. Blaine noted the time was now 9:11 and Kurt still had two jumps to go, he may end up with time penalties, he thought, screwing his face up a little.

Socks stumbled coming out of the final jump and Blaine winced, grabbing Rachel's wrist as he looked away. "Blaine, he's fine, look they're nearly finished" she said, turning his head back to the track. Blaine could see Kurt appearing up the long straight now, Socks had gone into a gallop, clearly tired but still giving his all.

Kurt's final time was 10:08, giving him 1.20 time penalties, over all 5.20. It was still a really good score. Overall, Kurt now had 45.40 penalties, remaining in fourth place, so he was still qualifying for the next competition. The guy in first place had, although fortunately for Kurt, fallen off in the cross country, injuring his ankle therefore he couldn't carry on. If Kurt could get through the show-jumping with less than 4:00 penalties, he could qualify for the next competition.

Tomorrow would tell.

* * *

It was the day of the show-jumping now. Kurt had got down to the stable early, he couldn't sleep properly. Sitting on the couch, worrying and drinking coffee probably wasn't helping his nerves that much. Sighing, he knew he would be okay but if he didn't qualify, it would all seem like a waste.

An hour later, Blaine had turned up with the rest of Kurt's family and they got to work making sure Kurt knew his way around the show-jumping course. Kurt had a pretty good memory so it wasn't too much of a problem. They were more worried about what would happen if Socks had another fit if he sees coloured poles and Kurt ends up being disqualified.

A woman's voice suddenly came from the door. "Umm, hello, is this the Hummel tent?"

Kurt stood up and walked towards where the voice was. He was face-to-face with a woman who looked incredibly familiar but older at the same time. "Hi, yeah it is, can I help?"

"Kurt Hummel? My, haven't you grown up into a dashing young man" the woman smiled at him warmly before adding "You probably have no idea who I am huh?"

Kurt regarded the woman before he suddenly realised who she was. "Sharon?"

"You do remember me!" she beamed at him. This was the woman who let Kurt name Socks, who brought him one of the greatest joys he had in his life, of course he remembered her!

"How are you? It's so great to see you!" Kurt laughed as he hugged the woman.

"I'm great thank you sweetie. I was wondering if it was definitely you when I heard your name being called yesterday! And it was, really good cross-country run as well by the way"

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"The guy who injured himself yesterday in the cross country, that's my son"

"Oh my god, is he okay? It looked like a pretty nasty fall!" Kurt said, concern filling his eyes.

"He's gonna be okay, he broke his ankle but he's survived worse"

"Well tell him I'm glad he's alright" Kurt vaguely remembered the guy – before they had gone out to the cross country, he had wished Kurt good luck but they hadn't really had a proper conversation. Now Kurt thought about it, he did look a little bit like his mother!

"I will" she smiled as she noticed Socks behind him. "No way, is this my little Socks?!" surprisingly, Socks recognised the woman and allowed her to pat his neck comfortingly. Kurt told her how he had rescued him and she told Kurt "Well at least it was you who found him"

"Anyway I better get going, I will see you soon! Bye Kurt!" she kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

Although Kurt was over the moon to see her again, he now had one more person he needed to impress at the show jumping.

* * *

It was time. Kurt was next to go on, his breathing had become faster and he was scared. Really scared, so much could go wrong here but so much could go right. Blaine was with him, as groom he got to stay with the rider and horse before they went on.

"Kurt, you'll be great. It will be okay I promise" Blaine said soothingly, placing a hand on Kurt's thigh again patting it in comfort.

"What if it's not Blaine?" Kurt replied, not looking at him, staring straight ahead at the course.

"Kurt Hummel!" the announcer cried. Kurt shut his eyes briefly. He was about to go when he suddenly felt warm breath by his ear "Good Luck" Blaine whispered and he kissed Kurt on the cheek. When Kurt looked back, Blaine had gone.

Kurt took a deep breath and moved Socks into a trot. He felt the horse stiffen beneath him as he saw the coloured jumps but he kept going. Kurt only had 1:53 to do the course in.

Socks went over the first couple fine but the fourth jump had a rather elaborate floral decoration next to it and it put Socks off. He went over it fine but not in the middle, and the pole fell to the floor. 4.00 penalties. Kurt couldn't afford to get anymore penalties or otherwise he is out of the next competition. "Come on boy" Kurt whispered to Socks. The encouragement seemed to do something to the horse and he picked up speed and balance.

They flew over the last few jumps with one close shave. The pole wavered but it stayed in place. Before Kurt knew it, he had finished with a time of 1:52. So close, but he had done it! He had qualified!

Going back to the stable area, he jumped off Socks and was greeted by a beaming Blaine. "Kurt, you did it! That was fantastic!"

Kurt did the only thing he thought was right at that moment. Grabbing the corner of Blaine's shirt, he pulled Blaine in and kissed him. Blaine took a while to respond, mainly because of the shock but he kissed Kurt back and slipped an arm around Kurt's waist, bringing him closer. They pulled back mutually and Kurt rested their foreheads together.

"What was that for?" Blaine said smiling.

"for being you" Kurt said, simply, closing the gap between their lips once more.

* * *

**A/N- Review my darlings!xx**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**A/N- Hello my darlings! Me again! Hope you are still liking this story, pretty short chapter, but rather dramatic one! Leave reviews for me to let me know what you think :) Thanks for reading! Btw, when it first begins, it is about three days after the competition. **

**Love L xo**

* * *

Kurt was still on a competition high. It was two months to the next one which, if he got through, meant he could go onto the National Competitions. It was gonna be hard but he could do it.

Kurt was sat on a bale of hay, picking at a salad. Although he was mostly generally healthy with his diet and he was trying to keep in shape ever since the magazines had started paying attention to him, all he really wanted right now was a McDonalds. Admitting defeat to the salad, he put it down on the floor where Pepper the dog promptly sniffed it and then recoiled in disgust. Looking at Kurt with an expression that could only be described as 'You guys actually eat this?'

"I know buddy" Kurt smiled, patting the puppy on the head.

"Kurt? You in here?" Blaine's voice drifted in through the open door.

"Yeah" he called back.

"Hi" a smile on his face and looking as cute as ever, Blaine wandered in, carrying a brown paper bag.

"Hello" Kurt replied, smiling as Blaine sat down next to him and slid an arm around his waist.

"You not eating?" he asked gesturing to the salad on the floor.

"I've had enough of greens" Kurt said, his nose wrinkling.

"Do you want my fries?" Blaine asked. "You've been eating that salad for the past three days"

"Please?" Kurt asked sweetly.

"Go ahead" Blaine replied, passing over the red carton.

"You are the best boyfriend ever" Kurt said cheerily, kissing Blaine's cheek. Kurt then froze, realising they hadn't actually discussed the kiss. Sure, they had been a few more since then and a lot more cuddling, But they hadn't had the 'are-we-boyfriends-now' conversation.

Blaine looked like he wanted to both smile and frown at Kurt's words.

"Are…are we boyfriends?" Blaine said, turning to look at him.

"Do you want to be?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"More than anything" Blaine said a bit too quickly but he didn't really care. Kurt grinned rather stupidly and leant forward to kiss Blaine properly.

"So. Boyfriends. This is new" Kurt said.

"Yeah" Blaine said, dragging the word out.

"I've never been anyone's boyfriend before" Kurt said quietly.

"Me either" Blaine said. "But I'm glad to call myself yours"

Their hands found each other's and they barely left for the rest of the day.

* * *

"So we need to start training again soon" Blaine said, as he and Kurt were riding down one of the back fields, Kurt on Socks, Blaine on Darcy. He had formed some form of special bond with the sleek black stallion and they worked well together.

"Tell me about it" Kurt said pulling a face. "This one has only just recovered from the last competition and he needs to be trained up again" Kurt patted Socks on the neck lovingly.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to help you. We have more time anyway, Socks will the best damn horse there once we are done with him" Blaine replied cheerfully.

"Blaine I need to ask you something" Kurt said, looking straight ahead down the path.

"Shoot"

"Are you okay still being just a groom?"

"What?" Blaine turned his head to look at Kurt, confusion in his eyes. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's just seeing you ride today and before, you look like you miss it"

"I do sometimes. But it was very rarely I rode competitively. Besides, I love being your groom. I get to spend every day with you and I enjoy it. So don't ever worry about me, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked. "I don't want to be in the way"

"Hey, you are never in the way, never, I promise. I told you, I enjoy helping you, I'm riding now aren't I?"

Kurt smiled downwards. "Race you back?"

"You're on!"

* * *

Sebastian threw a magazine down in disgust. There was a picture in 'Animal News' of Kurt and his horse and how he was the youngest rider to go for the National Championships.

He was fed up of seeing Kurt in the kinda limelight now. He had qualified as well! He deserved some attention!

But no, Hummel and his stupid horse and now his stupid boyfriend were getting all the attention. "Ugh" Sebastian shuddered.

He had to do something. He needed to win to prove people wrong. And he knew just how to do it.

Get rid of Socks, you get rid of Kurt's weakest point in this competition, he thought to himself.

* * *

_One month later_

Socks flew over a jump happily and flawlessly, Kurt beaming as he did so. "That was brilliant!" Kurt cried, patting the horse's neck excitedly.

Blaine was leaning on the fence, grinning at them. "You see, I told you he could do it! You two are gonna storm this competition!" Kurt smiled gratefully and wiped his hand against his forehead. For the middle of September in Ohio, it was unusually hot and Kurt had been riding for nearly three hours now. Both he and Socks had turned in sweaty wrecks.

"Right, as your groom and training partner I'm telling you, you have to go rest now" Blaine said, walking forward to grab Socks' reins. He held out his free hand to help Kurt down. Kurt moved to take off Socks saddle but Blaine stopped him.

"You go change, because no offence sweetie, but you are really sweaty right now and I will sort him out"

"You sure?" Kurt said pulling off his hat revealing his normally perfect hair flattened and sticking to his forehead.

"Yes, I've been doing this for a while, I can untack a horse" Blaine winked. Kurt gave him a quick kiss. "Thank you!" Kurt chimed, smirking a little when he knew that Blaine's eyes were set firmly on his butt as he walked away.

"Come on boy" Blaine clucked his tongue and pulled firmly on the reins to get Socks to walk forward. The horse was tired and sweaty and highly reluctant to move. After about five minutes, Blaine finally dragged Socks to his stable who leapt at the chance to get at his water bucket. "Socks, I can't untack you if you are gonna keep your head in that bucket!" Blaine mumbled, struggling to pull the reins over Socks' ears. Blaine didn't like doing it but he got his hand under the horse's neck and pushed upwards just enough so he could manoeuvre the reins over his ears.

"Bye Socks" Blaine said as he gathered up the tack in his arms, throwing the saddle over his shoulder and shutting stable door behind him. He slid the bottom bolt up with his foot and wandered back to the tack room where Kurt was waiting outside, his hair styled again, now changed into jeans and a red shirt. They were going back to Kurt's house for dinner.

"Need a hand?" Kurt asked smiling.

"Thank you" Blaine said gratefully as Kurt pulled the saddle off his shoulder. They made sure everything was tidy in comfortable silence before leaving the door hand-in-hand.

* * *

The next morning, Kurt wandered into tack room where Blaine was gathering up the tack they would need for today's training session. "Morning honey" Kurt said softly, admiring his boyfriend's back muscles. Turning round, Blaine greeted him with a cute smile. "Hello beautiful" he kissed Kurt quickly. Kurt's heart fluttered every time Blaine greeted him like that – it was so natural to them now and it made him swell with love for Blaine.

"Have you checked the horses yet?" Kurt asked.

"No, I was just about too –"

"I'll go" Kurt cut him off. "You cleared up last night"

Kurt walked to the barn and frowned. The barn door was open. He could have sworn it had been shut the night before when he and Blaine left. Opening it a little more, he noted one open stable door. There were normally 12 horses in that barn. There were only 11. The only one missing was Socks.

"Socks?" Kurt called out anxiously, thinking he may have just gotten stuck. He normally responded to his name. There was no neigh, no soft whinny.

"Socks?" Kurt shouted this time, his worry increasing by the second, going outside and desperately looking anywhere for signs of his horse. Blaine had heard his shouts and jogged over to him. "Kurt, what's the matter?"

"It's Socks, he's missing! His stable door was open and he's not there! Where is he?" Kurt cried frantically, pushing past Blaine looking towards the field and food room. "SOCKS!" he shouted.

Kurt suddenly turned furiously glaring at Blaine. "You were the last one in there! You shut his door last night! You can't have shut it properly, you idiot!" Kurt shouted, prodding him in the chest. Blaine tried to catch his hand, shaking his head viciously.

"Kurt, I swear to you, I locked it, I'm sorry, I promise you he was in there and the door was shut!" Blaine said, tears forming in his eyes at the distrust in his boyfriends.

"Forget it Blaine. I'm going to find my horse" Kurt said storming off towards the bridleway.

"I'll come with you, let me help" Blaine said, running after him, grabbing Kurt's forearm. Kurt shook him off angrily.

"Alone"

Blaine couldn't help but brush away the angry tears in his eyes as he watched Kurt walk away.

* * *

**A/N- Thanks for reading! Review and I will send you hugs and cupcakes. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

**A/N- I've been neglecting this story, I'm so sorry! Thank you to everyone still reading this!**

**Hope you enjoy! Again, not sure when next chapter will be up, I have a busy two weeks coming up! I know, a social life, it's shocking ;) **

**Anyway, review m'dears x**

* * *

Blaine was pacing up and down outside Socks' still empty stable. He was so sure he had shut the door; he even remembered doing up the bottom bolt. There's no way Socks could have gotten out if the bottom bolt was done up. Someone had let him out or taken him on purpose. Doubt had begun to creep into Blaine's mind – had he done up the bolt? Had he lost Socks?

On other note, would Kurt ever trust him again?

Blaine started biting the corner of his lip to try and keep from crying again, breathing in shallowly. He leant on the door of Socks' stable and muttered "I'm sorry boy, I'm so sorry" He brought his forehead down onto his forearms, continuing to lean on the door. His shift had finished half an hour ago, Kurt didn't want him around at the moment and even still Kurt wasn't back, he was thinking he should probably just go.

However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the tiniest scrap of navy material caught on the bottom bolt. He crouched down to look a bit closer, stuck to it was a single strand of white fur. Blaine plucked the material away from the bolt and studied it. The fur wasn't Socks'; it was too course to be horse hair. Blaine suddenly looked round, dropping the patch of material in his haste; Pepper the dog hadn't been there all morning either. The puppy normally sat on top of the hay bales or next to a stable but he was nowhere to be found.

The fur was almost a complete match for his though. Pepper had a calming effect on Socks, he often played outside his stable and the horse watched the puppy with interest. It would make sense; if someone had tried to take Socks forcefully, the dog would have intervened. Of course, the doubt in Blaine's mind was telling him 'You're jumping to conclusions, you're just hoping this is what happened to get your sorry ass off the hook' but he shook it off.

"Pepper?" he called out, half-hoping, almost half-not-hoping that the dog would respond, No reply, no woof, no bark, just the wind and the horses breathing soundly in their stables, unaware that two of their own had gone.

"Pepper? Here, boy!" Blaine called again. He looked round. There was no-one else around so he sucked in a deep breath and shouted "PEPPER!"

He waited a few seconds, but still nothing. "Damn" he muttered aloud. He admitted defeat and figured he would just leave. Kurt probably needed some space anyway. Sighing, and beginning to walk away, he heard the tiniest, barely audible whimper. His head shot up. "Pepper?" Blaine whispered warily.

Again, the softest whimper. Limping, and clearly in pain, his front left paw in the air, Pepper the dog struggled through the barn door. "Pepper, are you okay buddy?" Blaine cried, rushing to the dog, knowing full well he couldn't answer but it seemed like the right thing to say. He picked the puppy up in his arms. Blaine noted that the white and black fur was matted with blood on his paw; there were scratches all over the dog's body.

The dog relaxed against Blaine's chest visibly and nudged Blaine's chin with his wet nose, clearly happy to be home with someone who cared about him. Blaine kissed the top of the dog's head and hugged him closer. Pepper was freezing; he'd been out all night from the looks of it …with a broken paw as well!

"Come on, let's get you some…" Blaine's voice trailed off when he realised he wasn't alone in the room anymore. Kurt was standing in the doorway, regarding the pair in front of him.

"No joy?" Blaine asked quietly, his fingers teasing in Pepper's fur for comfort. Kurt shook his head and sniffed, he'd clearly been crying.

"What happened to him?" Kurt nodded towards the puppy, his arms folded against his chest.

"I don't know, broken paw, some cuts, I'm gonna drive him to vets now" Blaine replied awkwardly. He wasn't sure how to approach Kurt now.

"Okay" Kurt answered coolly.

"I'll see you soon?" Blaine answered hopefully. Kurt swallowed, lowered his gaze and didn't say anything.

* * *

_Two hours later_

Blaine returned with a bandaged up Pepper. His paw was broken but none of the cuts were serious and he would be okay in no time. The vet had given him sufficient fluid to warm him up and given Blaine some tablets to put in the dog's food to stop any of the cuts getting infected.

Kurt hadn't rung the police yet. As with a missing person, the police wouldn't do anything until Socks had been gone for 24 hours.

Kurt was sat on the hay bale, his feet curled up beneath him, his eyes staring at nothing. Rachel Berry was sat beside him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders. Blaine coughed quietly to make sure they knew he was there. Kurt's eyes shot up and he smiled the tiniest bit.

"I will leave you two alone for a while" Rachel said, patting Kurt's shoulder. "I'll go help your dad in the field okay Kurt?" He nodded.

Blaine looked at the floor and scuffed his feet nervously.

"I'm sorry I shouted at you" Kurt said quietly. "I, er, found the navy material by the stable door. And there was a ripped leather bracelet caught inside the door. Whoever took him wasn't very good at not leaving clues behind"

"Apparently so" Blaine replied.

"I shouldn't have doubted you. I'm so sorry. I do trust you Blaine. I trust you more than anyone. I know you would have shut that bolt and if you say you did then you did. Some other dickhead has taken him away, but I don't blame you. Please know that"

"Apology accepted" Blaine smiled warmly. They were still several metres apart but Blaine held his arms out and raised his eyebrows. Kurt grinned and swung his legs forward, crossing the space in two strides, stepping right into Blaine's arms. Kurt flung his arms around Blaine's neck and hugged him tightly. "I really am sorry" he whispered into the fabric of Blaine's jumper, burying his head into Blaine's warm neck. "I'm sorry for letting you walk away without me" Blaine whispered back. Kurt could do nothing else but kiss him.

Despite the worrying situation, the kiss quickly became heated; Kurt titled his head to deepen the kiss and Blaine's hand slowly danced up Kurt's back. Just as Blaine moved to kiss Kurt's neck, Kurt whispered "Can we continue this once we have found my horse?"

"Sure" Blaine answered, pulling back. They both leaned in for one last quick peck and they withdrew from the other's embrace.

"Do we have any clue where he might be?" Blaine said, sitting next to Kurt on the hay bale, his arm wrapped around Kurt's waist. Kurt sighed, picking at his nails sadly. "No, no-one saw anything, except you eh boy?" Kurt smiled a little as Pepper began to nose at Kurt's boots. His paw had been strapped up in a green bandage and Pepper was highly distracted by the newfound heaviness on his leg.

Kurt's eyes suddenly flashed with an idea. "No-one saw anything but him!" he grinned excitedly. Blaine stared at him as if he had gone mad. Kurt jumped up and grabbed the brush he used to groom Socks with from the shelf by the stable, holding it to Pepper's nose. The dog sniffed it reluctantly at first but after a while, he realised what Kurt was trying to do. The puppy kept his nose on the ground and began hobbling towards the door.

By this point, Blaine had realised what was going on and grabbed the squirming puppy. "Kurt, he can't walk anywhere!"

"But he's got Socks' scent!" Kurt said pleadingly. Blaine sighed. He noticed the saddle mounted on the wall behind him. "I have an idea. Keep Pepper here while I tack up Darcy and TJ okay?" Blaine said, passing the puppy into Kurt's arms. The dog had clearly caught something, squirming and writhing in Kurt's arms and was eager to get going.

Ten minutes later, Blaine was sat on Darcy, an unzipped rucksack in front of him balancing on the saddle and between Blaine's legs. Kurt eyed the wary contraption uneasily. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" Kurt asked, staring nervously at the rucksack.

"No" Blaine replied "But's it's worth a try" he held his arms out for the puppy. Pepper was also not too sure about the rucksack and tried to manoeuvre away from the rucksack. "Come on boy, do it for Socks" Blaine said soothingly. The puppy came close to a dog version of a sigh and let himself be placed into the rucksack. Blaine zipped it up a little bit so he wouldn't fall out. Kurt clambered onto TJ and nodded at Blaine.

Pepper barked, moving his little head to the left. Blaine kicked Darcy on, who was looking slightly bewildered at the fact he had a puppy in a rucksack on his back. Kurt clambered on TJ and followed them.

They carried on down the little path past the fields, Pepper barking to tell them to keep going. They came to the end of the path after about ten minutes but Pepper nudged Blaine's left hand with his nose, saying 'That way'

"Blaine, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kurt said, all he could see in that direction was trees and no path. "After all he is only a puppy; maybe we should just call the police or something"

Pepper turned his little head towards Kurt and barked aggressively. "I'm serious, that is the most human dog ever" Kurt said, shaking his head but smiling at the dog.

"Come on, we are two boys, two horses and a dog, we can battle some trees" Blaine said, although his heart wasn't quite in it. Even he wasn't so sure now.

Blaine kicked Darcy on and the horse whinnied softly, his brown eyes looking back with concern at Blaine. "Come on boy" The horse reluctantly moved forward.

Blaine balanced on the saddle, removing one hand from the reins to keep it above his head to avoid being hit by branches. "Pepper, where we going?"

Pepper barked twice and nudged Blaine's right hand. Blaine willingly followed.

They pushed through trees for a while until they came to a narrow, muddy trail.

"Blaine, look! Horse prints!" Kurt said pointing to the ground. Pressed into the soft mud, there were hoof prints, some looking as if they had been dragged through the ground, like the horse had put up a struggle.

"That has to be him" Kurt said, concern dripping through his voice again. Panic began to rise in his chest again – what if Socks was hurt again?

"Kurt, calm down, at least if it is him, we know he is alive and still fighting" Blaine said, awkwardly leaning over Pepper in the rucksack to give Kurt's hand a squeeze. Kurt gave him a grateful smile and moved TJ on.

There was a tiny run down hut at the end of the trail. The wood was rotting, the glass in the window smashed, moss creeping its way up the outside of the building. The hoof prints stopped outside. Kurt jumped off TJ and warily pushed open the weak door.

Blaine lifted the reins of each horse over their heads and looped it round a nearby tree stump. He lifted Pepper out the rucksack and put him on the floor, shushing him as the puppy followed Blaine to reach Kurt. Pepper had been here before and he wasn't pleased to be back.

Kurt felt Blaine reach out to take his hand as the door creaked open. The room it lead to was dark and dusty, a smell of mildew in the air. Kurt swallowed nervously and at the moment, he was eternally grateful Blaine was with him; there was something very creepy about an abandoned shed in the middle of a forest.

"Anyone here?" Kurt called out. He noted a light switch to the side of him as they walked into the room. He flicked it and a dusty light bulb buzzed into life, flooding the room with what little power it retained.

"Oh my god" Kurt whispered. Blaine gasped and gripped Kurt's arm with his free hand. Pepper whimpered and moved behind Blaine's leg.

"What did they do to you?"

* * *

**A/N- Omg another cliffhanger, heheh ;)**

**On another note, the real life TJ, (he's not my horse but I wish to god he was), was an absolute star on Saturday and we had a good ride together, then he licked my face which is always pleasant...;) **

**Hope you liked and leave a review! :)**


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